45

REBECCA CLARKE's Duo FORB~ CLARINET AND VIOLA:

SoME NoTES AND CoMMENTS

by Thomas Heimberg

Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale, Rebecca Clarke's beautiful duo for B~ clarinet and viola, was published
recently by Oxford University Press ( OUP 2000, ISBN 0-19-386238-7).
The work was composed in 1941, and was given its first performance in Berkeley, California, in 1942.
Since that time it has been both performed and recorded, but those presentations were based on manu-
script copies and photocopies, some more traceable to the original sources than others. The Oxford edi-
tion is the work's first official publication.
Oxford University Press editor Christopher Johnson now holds the rights to works in the Clarke
estate. He is working hard to get them published, and more power to him! He has written a valuable
introduction to this edition-see also his extended record jacket essay on the superb Patricia McCarty
recording from 1982. (Boston Publication, UC Berkeley Music Library NE 212).
In February of2001, I had the pleasure of performing this work with my clarinetist friend, John Zorn.
We started our preparations with an anonymous photocopy, and then switched to the Oxford edition
when it became available to us. Differences between the text we had been using, the Oxford edition, and
some recordings I had heard stimulated me to some research. The following notes are based on that work.
My comments fall into three categories: textual, performance practice, and historical.

TEXTUAL NOTES

On comparing the Oxford edition with the holograph in the Music Library at the University of
California, Berkeley (Mus.Ms./ClaPre), I found a misprint in the Allegro: Measures 41, 42, and 43 of that
movement should all have C~ as their first note. (The OUP is missing the flat in measure 42.)

Example 1. Allegro, measures 41-43

41

marc. e cresc.
'r (C~)
''r

When I pointed this out to him on the phone, Christopher Johnson graciously and gratefully agreed with
my finding. Oxford will correct this misprint in future printings. (I claim a footnote to history for hav-
ing spotted it.)
That was the only Oxford misprint I spotted, but my examination of the score did clarify several other
questions:
On a recent English recording of this work (Dutton CDLX 7105), in measures 32-33 of the Prelude,
the violist mistakenly plays four grace notes between the fourth beat of 32 and the first beat of 33. The
Oxford publication has three grace notes, which accords with the holograph.

Example 2. Prelude, measures 32-33

3 =====---pp
46 jOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY VOL. 18 No.1

I began learning this piece from a photocopy of an anonymous manuscript that the late Rosario
Mazzeo used to give to his clarinet students. In measure 87 of the Allegro that copy has arpeggiated open
strings instead of the harmonics one octave higher in the Oxford edition. The harmonics are correct.
(Although I admit that the open strings could be a good emergency fake, if needed.)

Example 3. Allegro, measure 87 as corrected

87 r-----3~
0 ...- 0
0 0 ...
... 3
(&)
Ossia: r--~~ ~
#-
....

In measure 4 of the Pastorale, Patricia McCarty's recording transposes the rhythm to a half note fol-
lowed by a quarter note. The Oxford edition is correct: a quarter note followed by a half

PERFORMANCE PRAXIS

Part of the adventure of learning any piece of music is the opportunity to solve unfamiliar problems and
to personalize the technique required for its performance.
Another part of the adventure is using others players' prior work to help save time. I offer the follow-
ing notes in the hope they might be helpful. If you've found something better on your own, please pass
it on.
Rebecca Clarke was a splendid violist whose career as an instrumentalist was ground-breaking. She
understood the viola very well, and the viola part for this work is well written and handy. However, there
are a few places where I found that some special devices and counterintuitive fingerings made the notes
more accessible.

Example 4. Prelude, measure 38-the harmonic pizzicati ring best, even in pianissimo, when the string is
plucked near the bridge and the stopping finger is then immediately lifted.

38 (pizz.) ~ 0 0 ::J
liB ,,~ 'i - 'i
pp
~ r &' II
ppp

Example 5. Allegro, measure 86-in this measure the fifths across all four strings lie best in the hand (and
sound clearest) when fingered 2-2, 1-1.

I
>
cresc. 3
2 2
 REBECCA CLARKE'S Duo FOR B~ CLARINET AND VIOLA 47

Example 6. Allegro, measures 113 to 128. This movement moves at a rapid clip throughout. I like the
noted fingering because the groupings lie well in the hand and using the same pattern for the sequence
makes it easier to remember. Note the fourth finger extension, with the immediate minor second "pull-
back" in measures 118 and 124. It does not lend itself immediately to the eye.
-I 4 I 0 - 3 -I
113 ten.

IIH {] r rv llv--r r ~r 1 ~
p [sub.]--~====== molto f

(I) 4 - 4 I - I

'1h.J~Jd,j J ;' ~rd I h_.J Jd1B oJdQ II Bt .~~ rJ;1

pp sub. --==: =-

'r
120 -3 I 2

FIIB['F'r ld JjdJ~J I 3 _!Iff'[ Er Efl' ~J>rJ-

--=== ===---
3 4 - I

poco a poco cresc.

I

124 4 - 4 I - I -3 3

' [j 'l~) J d JliB J ) II cJ ' cresc. sempre

I 2 3 4 -2
127 > ,....--..._

IIH j j j J J uJ I dr t Ii
--===

Example 7. Allegro, measures 133-137

Example 8. Pastorale, measures 1 through 12. Be sure to put this beautiful unaccompanied solo in your
practice book.

V IV ~ 3 ~ 2

IIR! ~;!9 p,J. "~24Jie J~J {IJ I [r r U @II

p~ 3

IV 3

I~C@J 3J) J 342JJ!I

10
3 poco rit. 17'1

IIR I,FQ {J {J 1&) (_~J IJ j~J :l J J J I J.

...____/
==-- ==- ==-- ==~-pp
~ -"---"-
48 jOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY Vm. 18 No.1

Example 9. Pastorale, measures 50-51. I play these arpeggiations in the first position, but I use the fourth
finger for the C in measure 51. The thinner finger fits better between the C and D strings.

50~

IIH "~ ~J J
poco a poco cresc.

As a note on performance practice it should also be mentioned that the Oxford edition is spaciously
printed and clear to the eye. It usually has about 5 systems per page, with 3 to 5 bars per system. But this
makes several of the page turns impossible.
With a lot of cutting and pasting it is possible to add systems per page and bars per system to make
use of some rests that allow the violist and clarinetist to take turns turning. But the simplest solution is
just to put four stands side by side, spread out the whole movement, and "travel" while playing.

AN HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE
The world premiere of Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale was played for the International Society for
Contemporary Music in Berkeley, California, on August 6, 1942. The first performers were Rudolph
Schmidt, clarinet, and Walter Herbert, viola. I recognized the name of Rudolph Schmidt as the Principal
of the San Francisco Symphony at that time, but I didn't know who Walter Herbert was.
My source was Detlev Olshausen, a Bay Area viola colleague who retired from the San Francisco
Symphony in the mid-eighties after fifty years of service-most of them as Assistant Principal. Detlev
remembers auditioning for Pierre Monteux in 1940 on the same day as Walter Herbert. Herbert was a
refugee from Frankfurt, Germany, a violist with conducting aspirations. He played in the San Francisco
Symphony for about two years before moving to Texas, where he founded the Houston Grand Opera in
1955-a great contribution to American musical culture. l!l

Music Examples from Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale by Rebecca Clarke

2000 Oxford University Press, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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